Inflatable safety belt



1966 J. R. BRYAN INFLATABLE SAFETY BELT Filed Aug. 6, 1964 INVENTOR. J/Zfikrmv United States Patent:

3,263,249 INFLATABLE SAFETY BELT Joseph R. Bryan, 165 Palm Springs Drive, Slidcll, La. 70458 Filed Aug. 6, 1964, Ser. No. 387,949 3 Claims. (Cl. 9--316) This invention relates generally to the field of inflatable life saving devices, and more specifically to a novel belt construction which may be simply inflated to provide buoyancy in the case ofemergency.

Many inflatable life jackets and other devices have been developed for the purpose of saving life in water. These devices are often highly complex and frequently subject the wearer to considerable inconvenience and discomfort when wom even in the uninflated condition. My invention is directed towards the provision of a simple adjustable waist belt which may if desired serve all the purposes of a conventional belt, and which is constructed from an inflatable tube. The belt is readily adjustable in size and is provided with a small cartridge inflating device which may be actuated by the wearer in an emergency.

A primary object of this invention is to provide a simple waist belt which serves as an emergency buoyancy device, and which further does not restrict the wearer from any activity whether the belt be in the inflated or the uninflated condition.

A further object of this invention is to provide a safety belt of the above class which is suitable for use in all water sports including swimming. diving, skin diving, water skiing, boating, surfing or fishing.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an inflatable life belt which is simple in construction, eflicient and reliable in operation, and which may be manufactured economically.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following more detailed description of a preferred embodiment thereof, taken in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein:

FIG. l is a perspective view of the inflatable waist belt which comprises my invention.

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary plan view showing the adjustable fcatures provided in the belt clip, the portion of the belt shown is indicated in the inflated condition.

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view taken along the lines 3--3 of FIG. I, and shows the inflating device which is secured for convenient access to a front portion of the belt.

Similar reference characters indicate corresponding parts throughout the several views in the drawings.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, thenumeral 5 represents a flat tubular strip which performs as the belt or strap and is constructed with an inner wall 6 and an outer wall 7 which are sealed along their upper and lower edges. The strip may be constructed of rubber tubing or any other suitable flexible material which is capable of inflation and retaining air.

The ends of the strip 5 are adjustably connected to cooperating buckles 8 and 9. The buckle 8 is of substantially rectangular cross section and has a rectangular opening 10 formed in one end to receive the male portion of the cooperating buckle 9. The buckle 8 has upper and lower parallel walls 11 which define the upper and-lower portions of the rectangular opening 10, and these walls are connected by parallel opposed side walls 12 which taper inwardly towards each other to terminate with a small rectangular opening 13. The rectangular opening 10 thus extends with parallel walls to approximately half the length of the buckle and continues with inwardly tapered surfaces 14 which provide a wedge pocket for a wedge 15. A small slot 16 is formed through the forwardrce ly disposed side wall 12 to receive a catch lug 17 associatcd with the buckle 9. The wedge 15 has a semicircular portion 18 disposed in the parallel section of the rectangular opening 10 and extends outwardly through the small opening 13 with symmetrically tapered surfaces 19 adapted in a parallel relationship with the tapered surfaces 14 of the side walls 12. The end of the tubular strip 5 indicated at 20 is threaded in through the small opening 13 around the semi-circular portion of the wedge 15 and back outwardly through the opening 13 as clearly seen in FIG. 2, so that the wedge performs to secure the strip in any desired adjustable position.

The buckle portion 9 is of similar rectangular shape terminating at one end with a small opening 21 similar in dimension to the opening 13. Tapering sides 22 cooperate to form wedge faces 23 for locking engagement by a wedge 24 in a similar manner to that already described, and adjustably secures the other end 25 of the tubular strip 5. The small opening 21 is defined by short upper and lower walls 26 which terminate at 27 such that the sides 22 extend therebeyond in the form of flat substan tially parallel tongues 28 and 29. These tongues are adapted to flex towards each other such that they may be slideably inserted into the rectangular opening 10 of the buckle 8. The catch lug 17 being mounted on the outer surface of the tongue 29 engages within the small slot 16 to provide a positive locking between the two cooperating buckles.

An inflating device 30 is secured to the outer wall 7 of the tubular strip and extends to approximately the same depth as the strip. It comprises a tubular casing 31 which is closed at the lower end by a threaded cap 32 having a capsule piercing pin 33 upstanding inwardly from the center of the cap. The tubing is adapted to receive a small carbon dioxide cartridge or capsule 34 such that the nozzle 35 of the cartridge engages with the piercing pin as seen in FIG. 3. The cartridge is retained in this position by a semi-circular flexible cap 36 which is scalably secured over the other end of the casing 31 by a threaded sleeve 37 which has an inwardly directed circular flange 38 for engaging the periphery of the flexible cap firmly against the end of the sleeve. The inflating device is secured to the tubular strip by hollow rivets 39 which permit gas which is released from the cartridge to pass into the tubular strip through the openings 40 in the rivets. An actuating lever 41 embraces the top of the flexible cap 36 and is pivoted at 42 to a small lug 43 projecting from the sleeve 37. The lever extends down wardly from the pivotal mounting to provide an operating handle 44 which extends in a spaced parallel relationship with the casing 31. Movement of the handle in the direction of the arrow 45 will cause the cartridge 34 to be depressed downwardly on to the piercing pin 33 and so release the gas contained therein to inflate the tubular strip and thereby provide an effective life belt to maintain the wearer afloat.

The cartridge 34 is readily replaceable, and if desired more than one inflating device may be secured to the belt.

Having described the invention in a preferred form, it will be appreciated that some modifications may be made to the precise configuration, without departing from the scope or spirit of the invention, as defined by the follow ing claims.

I claim:

1. An inflatable safety belt comprising, a flat tubular strip, cooperating buckles secured to each end of the strip, an inflating device mounted upon one side of the strip, said device replaceably receiving a gas cartridge, an actuating lever mounted outwardly on the device for opening the cartridge to cause the strip to inflate, wedges mov ably disposed within each buckle, and said ends of the strip extending around the wedges in an adjustable and locking relationshipwithin each .buckle torpermitthe ad- 1 justmcnt of the effective length of the belt.

2. An inflatable safety belt according to claim 1, wherein said inflating device comprises a tubular casing, hollow rivets securing the casing to one side of the tubular strip, a cap having a piercing pin protruding im varclly of one end of the casing, and a flexible ca-p closing the other end of the casing, said lever being positioned to depress the flexible cap and cause the cartridge to be punctured by the pin to inflate the tubular strip through the hollow rivets.

3. An inflatable safety belt for use in water sports, and comprising, a flat inflatable tubular strip closed at each end, cooperating buckles receiving said ends in an adjustable relationship, wedges within the buckles for locking said ends in the buckles, an inflating device comprising a tubular sleeve secured to one side of the tubular strip by tubular rivets, a cartridge piercing cap closing the lower References Cited by the Examiner UNTTED STATES PATENTS 1,609,677 12/1926 Waimel 93l6 2,135,095 11/1938 Antognazzi 9-316 X 2,324,744 7/1943 Ward 9-316 2,882,537 4/1959 Lortz 2- 9-322 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner.

A. E. CORRIGAN, Examiner. 

1. AN INFLATABLE SAFETY BELT COMPRISING, A FLAT TUBULAR STRIP, COOPERATING BUCKLES SECURED TO EACH END OF THE STRIP, AN INFLATING DEVICE MOUNTED UPON ONE SIDE OF THE STRIP, SAID DEVICE REPLACEABLY RECEIVING A GAS CARTRIDGE, AN ACTUATING LEVER MOUNTED OUTWARDLY ON THE DEVICE FOR OPENING THE CARTRIDGE TO CAUSE THE STRIP TO INFLATE, WEDGES MOVABLY DISPOSED WITHIN EACH BUCKLE, AND SAID ENDS OF THE STRIP EXTENDING AROUND THE WEDGES IN AN ADJUSTABLE AND LOCKING RELATIONSHIP WITHIN EACH BUCKLE TO PERMIT THE ADJUSTMENT OF THE EFFECTIVE LENGTH OF THE BELT. 